My Immortal
by Yuuka Yagami
Summary: Riku's life is going through a slow, downward spiral. One day, running away from home, he meets someone new. Who is it? Can they help Riku make things better again, or will they only make things worse? (Alternate Universe; implied Riku x Sora)
1. One: Stranger

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, its characters, etc, etc...

Warnings: implied shounen-ai as the story progresses, language, and violence

If none of the above offend or irk you, read on, and please review once you've finished; if they do, please find another fanfiction that suits your tastes. Thank you.

**My Immortal**  
_One: Stranger_

_Smack._

"..." His head snapped painfully to the side, the impact leaving a stinging sensation in his left cheek.

"Get out."

"..." He balled his hands into tight fists, resisting the urge to fight back. _'You know it won't work,'_ he thought to himself, _'it won't...'_

_Smack!_

"You heard me! _Out!_"

And so he left. Head lowered, he ran out the door and into the rain. He closed it with a slam, with no intention of ever coming back.

----------

Rain. Endless rain. He couldn't see anything else past the wet bangs of silver. Endless rain, endless running... His eyes were filled with anger, as was his heart. What kind of parents were they? How could they do this to him? What right did they –!

_'...Huh..?'_ The young boy slowed to a stop as he neared the beach. Taking a closer look, there, near the wooden docks. There was a boy in the sand. Forgetting about what had happened, he jumped off the sidewalk and onto the sand below, eyes focused on the thin, frail body in the distance. "Hello...?"

The boy didn't move. His eyes were closed as if he was in a peaceful – or pained? – slumber, his limbs sprawled out, embracing the sky, the late evening rain. His dark brown hair was matted down and soaked, as if he had been laying here for hours on end. Up close, he looked like he was around the same age as Riku, maybe a year younger, or even two.

"H-hey..are you okay?" Riku kneeled down beside him, feeling a little bit concerned.

His chest wasn't moving. No rise or fall, no intake of air...

_Drip, drip, drip_ went the rain, splashing onto the boy's pale face, then sliding off onto the damp sand. He looked so lifeless, so cold... Was he...?

He frowned, panic creeping up on him slowly. "Come on, man! Answer me!" He put out his hand and tried to touch the boy's face –

_' ---?!'_

– His eyelids began to flutter. Surprised, the silver-haired youth pulled his hand back and gasped. Slowly, the boy began to open his eyes, revealing a pair of intense sapphire blue orbs. The boy blinked once, twice, then turned his head to Riku, staring up at him in curiosity as if saying, "What are _you_ looking at?"

_'Phew. He was breathing. He was alive. You were just seeing things...'_ Riku sighed in relief, his lips forming a stern frown. "Jesus. I thought you were dead."

"Sorry," he said simply. The boy's voice was quiet, gentle.

He jumped up suddenly, eyes narrowed down at the other. "I'm serious!" he exclaimed loudly, clenching his hands into fists once more. "Don't fucking do that!"

"..." Silence. The boy just continued to stare up at him, not frowning, nor smiling, almost as if he was staring right _through_ him; it sent a chill down Riku's spine. The apathetic look in those eyes was so eerie. He felt a pang in his stomach, regretting yelling at him like that. It was rude; he should've apologised. The brunette didn't look hurt or anything, and Riku never liked saying sorry, so he decided to initiate some sort of friendly conversation instead.

"...Why exactly are you out here?"

"I was wondering the same thing about you." He pulled himself into a sitting position, very slowly, brushing sand and water off his red jumpsuit and jacket. It didn't do much, as it continued to rain, and his clothes were already soaked through completely. He then wrapped his arms around the legs brought up to his chest, and rested his head on his knees. "Everyone's at home, sleeping. Shouldn't you be home?"

Home? Where he lived was no home. He blinked, unclenching his fists and averting his gaze. "I...can't go back to the house." It was a _house_, not a _home_. An empty, empty, house. In a home you're supposed to feel safe, comfortable...

...loved...

... wanted.

Riku sighed inwardly. It was a sad sigh, gloomy and downcast.

"Did someone at your house give you that?" A gloved hand was pointed at the other's face, which was still red on that one side.

_'Oh... I forgot about that.'_

He felt like he could trust this person...but, why? Strange. They had only just met. Before he could think things through he sat down beside the boy, taking a similar position, and told him, "It was...my dad. He got mad at me when I gave him attitude during dinner – we eat late, see? – and then things kinda snowballed from there." He touched his face gingerly, wincing as he felt the sting. Yep...that was gonna leave a mark.

"Oh." He tilted his head to the side, never taking his eyes off the silver-haired teen. "You should respect your parents more, you know."

"I didn't ask for your advice," Riku retorted.

"Heh. Sorry." The boy turned his head away from Riku and towards the ocean, watching the distant waves gently lapping at the shore. Still there was no definite emotion in his face. Was he being cold, or was he always this quiet? "But, still, you should. They may get mad at you sometimes, but they'll always love you. That's how parents are."

His lips twisted into a bitter smile as he lowered his head, silver hair concealing his eyes in shadow. "Bullshit. If they love me, then why did they kick me out?"

"They what?" Sapphire tried to meet with aquamarine once again. This time he looked a little bit shocked. A little.

"See? They don't 'love me'." The smile was followed by an equally bitter laugh. "My parents never wanna see me again, and I, them. It all works out just fine."

"What's your name?"

_'Eh? Why the sudden change of subject?'_ Riku raised his head so he was at eye level with the younger teen. "...It's Riku."

A faint smile graced the boy's gentle face, concern glinting in his deep blue eyes. "Go home, Riku." His voice seemed to be getting quieter. It was almost at a whisper now, hardly audible over the pounding rain and splashing waves.

"W-why should I?" There was a defiant tone in him. "Why should I listen to you?" He stood up.

"You'll see your parents don't really want you gone. They'll ask for your forgiveness, and your father will apologise for hitting you. "Go home. Please? For me?"

Riku arched a brow at the odd request. "What? Whatever, weirdo..." He turned his back on him and began to walk away. _'Hmph. I'm only going back because you're weird, and I don't feel like talking to you anymore. –'_

"The name's Sora! Not weirdo!" The boy called over his shoulder, waving an arm at the one leaving. Sora smiled.

_'– _Not _because you asked me to...Sora.'_

_Posted on: August 15, 2004_

_Edited on: January 2, 2005_


	2. Two: Wonderful Days

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, its characters, etc, etc...

Warnings: implied shounen-ai as the story progresses, language, and violence

If none of the above offend or irk you, read on, and please review once you've finished; if they do, please find another fanfiction that suits your tastes. Thank you.

_'Sora was right.'_

----------

**My Immortal**

_Two: Wonderful Days_

"'A contradiction between what is said and what is meant.' Kairi?"

"Verbal irony?"

The teacher smiled at Kairi as she put her hand back down. "Good. 'A person, place, event, or object that suggests a deeper meaning than its literal meaning.' Anyone else want to give this a try?"

Ah, the hellhole they called school. Language Arts sucked, thought the silver-haired teen in the corner of the classroom. Reviewing short story terms was even worse. The only thing Riku had been doing during class lately was scribble in his book and pass notes around with the other kids.

"Pssst. Riku."

Like that.

Kairi sat to his right, holding out a small folded piece of paper. Her head was turned to the front of the class to make it look like she was paying attention. It always worked; Kairi had a knack for not getting in trouble. She'd do a million bad things around the school, like start food fights or graffiti the lockers, and she never got caught. Not once.

"Wakka?"

"Um...symbolism."

"Very good! Can you give me an example of symbolism?"

He rolled his eyes, grabbing the note as the teacher turned to the other side of the classroom where Wakka was sitting.

"Uh...the paopu fruit? It's supposed to be a symbol of love, ya?" The teen blushed as Selphie nudged him in the shoulder, giggling. "Knock it off, Selphie!" A few kids behind them chuckled at Wakka's embarrassment.

"Wakka raises his hand too much," Kairi whispered, smiling in amusement.

He opened up the note under his desk and stared down at it. The writing didn't look like Kairi's; it was messy and smudged, and it looked like it was written in a hurry.

"'A character that undergoes a major change in the course of the story.'"

_I like you._

_- Tidus_

Riku quirked a brow. "_…What the fuck_?"

"Riku!"

_'Irk!'_ He did a mental anime fall. Whoops. He wasn't supposed to say that out loud. Curse his quick reaction time...

Half of the class was dead silent, while the other half was laughing their heads off. He shot a nasty glare at Kairi and Tidus as a blush crept up his face. Both were laughing hard, banging their fists on their desks with tears in their eyes. Why the hell was this so funny? At the front of the class Selphie was giggling, while Wakka was looking very confused.

The teacher didn't look very pleased. One hand placed on her hip, the other pointing at the door, foot tapping on the ground impatiently, she said, "Riku. To the office. Now."

----------

"I swear, Riku! It was a joke!"

"Come on! You can't be mad at us!"

The silver-haired teen leaned against the brick wall, unmoved and unfazed by their words, arms crossed against his chest. He didn't want to hear them. He didn't even want to see their faces. His lips were pursed together in a stern frown, aquamarine eyes now cold. His gaze was averted from the girl trying to look him in the face.

"We said we were sorry," Kairi persisted, looking up at him with puppy dog eyes, "We didn't mean for you to get into trouble."

"'Three-day suspension, starting tomorrow," Riku muttered, quoting what the principle had said to him before the lunch bell rang, "for the use of 'inappropriate language' and class disruption…'"

"Come _ooon_! Three days! That isn't a long time." Hands on her knees, she leaned forward, trying to speak face-to-face with the angry boy; he kept moving his face to the other side whenever she tried to look at him. "At least you get to stay at home and do whatever you want!"

"Hmph. I'd rather be at school."

Kairi bit on the inside of her cheek in annoyance, brow furrowing. She was trying to help him look on the bright side, but apparently he didn't want to co-operate. Tidus strolled by from the basketball court, where he was playing with Wakka and Selphie. The young teen leaned against Kairi with his arm on her shoulder, and tried to get a good look at his face, too. "Yeah, come on. Didn't you think that was the _least_ bit funny?"

"No. That was an immature joke of yours, Tidus. It wasn't funny at all."

He laughed, shaking his head for a moment. "Hey, it's not like we were _seriously_ making fun of you being queer or anything –"

Riku snapped his head in their direction, looking down at the two with an icy glare.

Tidus blinked in surprise, standing back up straight. He quirked an eyebrow at the teen's reaction; Kairi looked a bit unnerved now, she was silent. "Geez, Riku, ease up. You don't know how to take a fucking joke." The blonde took Kairi's hand in his own and gently tugged her away. "Let's go back to the others…"

Kairi took one last glance before she turned around and followed the blonde. Her eyes showed an apologetic look, but Riku's showed no forgiveness.

----------

Ten minutes passed. The lunch break felt so long to the boy, like it would never end. He stayed there by himself, leaning against the school in silence, while children of many ages played on the grounds far away from him. Their laughing and screaming could be heard from where he was, and it was giving him a headache. Wakka and Tidus were playing basketball one-on-one; Selphie and Kairi skipped rope together nearby, watching them. The teens seemed perfectly fine, as if the incident with Riku had never happened. It was like they were ignoring him again, treating him as a problem they never wanted to deal with. He sighed, closing his eyes and pressing on them with his thumb and index finger. _'What the heck is wrong with them lately?' _he thought in exasperation, _'Or maybe…what the heck is wrong with me?'_

Opening his eyes again, the silver-haired teen frowned slightly as he watched the young blonde jump around the court, screaming and flailing his arms around like a monkey, making faces to match the irritating sound effects. _'Stupid Tidus. He needs to grow up a little. Honestly…'_ The friendship between the two was somewhat on and off. Something would always cause a rift between them, either Riku's seriousness, or Tidus' immaturity; it was usually the latter. _'Sometimes I think he should be put in the third grade…'_ The school was cramped, and didn't have as much money as it needed. Classrooms in the secondary level were put together because there were fewer teenagers compared to younger kids, though Riku wished that they weren't; days like these would be more bearable if Kairi and Tidus were in a different class, he thought.

Speaking of Kairi, she still looked a bit upset from what had happened earlier. She seemed to be less cheerful than normal, and she wasn't laughing. The way Tidus fooled around, like now, always made the girl laugh. She had been glancing over in his direction a few times now. Each time Riku was either not paying attention or returning the glance with the same unforgiving eyes, slowly growing more annoyed each time she tried to give him the "I'm sorry, don't be mad anymore" look. It almost never worked; it just made him more irate. The friendship between the two was on and off as well. They shared a stronger bond when Kairi had just moved to the island, but something caused the girl to distance herself from him; Riku couldn't remember what it was.

Riku felt closer to Selphie than he did to Kairi, even though the girl had way more spunk than he could handle. The yellow-clad jump-roper always had a smile on her face; her optimism often helped lift his spirits, though on the rare occasion it could do the opposite. She always wanted to make sure all of her friends were happy.

"Heads up man!"

"Oomph!"

Wakka bounced the basketball hard. It collided with the unprepared Tidus' shoulder and sent him falling to the concrete.

Selphie seemed to be a little confused about the spat, but Wakka was completely out of the loop. Riku often wondered if the 16-year-old smoked pot or something. He always seemed so laid back and carefree most of the time…a little _too_ laid back. Riku didn't talk to him very often, but he sure was more tolerable than Tidus. The redhead was calm and collective compared to his blonde counterpart, who was energetic and spontaneous. The two had been best friends since forever, and it was the same between Selphie and Kairi; whom did Riku have? He wondered.

More time passed. Riku's world was silent, all sounds and sights were shut out. Aquamarine eyes trailed off towards the chain-linked fence surrounding the school's perimeter. They softened from that cold gaze as something on the other side of the fence came into focus. _'Huh…?'_ It was a boy dressed in red and yellow. His hands were in his pockets, and his azure-blue eyes were looking in his direction. _'It's…the guy from last week.'_ Riku walked across the field absentmindedly, closing the distance between the two. The six-foot metal barrier was now the only thing separating them.

A gentle smile graced the other boy's face. "Hi, Riku."

He returned the smile, though he didn't do it with as much enthusiasm as he would've liked to. "Hey." He observed that the boy looked to be in better condition than the first time that he saw him. His skin had more color in it, and he didn't look as tired. Was he tired back then? He couldn't remember.

Sora gestured towards the distant basketball court. "Why aren't you over there with them?" He spoke in that quiet voice, like the time in the rain.

Riku looked over his shoulder. They didn't seem to notice him. "I don't know. I just…don't feel like it today. One of my friends was being a real jackass earlier…"

He tilted his head to the side a bit, dark brown hair falling over his eyes. "Hm. Bad day?"

"Actually…" The older teen shook his head, chuckling. He made a dismissive kind of gesture with his right hand before placing it on his hip. "Yeah. Real bad day."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

A voice echoed from behind. "Riku! Can I talk to you for a minute?" The one being called looked over his shoulder again. Kairi had stopped playing jump rope, and was now waving at him. What did she want?

He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Ugh, ignore her. She'll go away eventually."

"Riiiku!"

The boy laughed, looking past Riku so he could get a better glimpse of her. "I…don't think she will. You should probably go now."

"Are you sure? I don't want to be rude and just leave you here or anything…"

He laughed again, that quiet laugh, smiling at the silver-haired teen through the metal links. "It's okay."

Riku furrowed his brow. Was he being honest? He _really _felt uncomfortable just leaving like this. "How about I meet you inside later? You _do_ go to our school, right? I don't think I've ever seen you in class before…"

Sora looked up at the two-storey building, giving a nostalgic sigh. "I used to go here, when I was a little kid. Not anymore."

"Oh." _'Scratch that idea. Does he go to the private school in the north district then?'_

"Hm…" Sora tilted his head to one side thoughtfully before speaking again, "You got something to write with? I'll give you my phone number. You can just call me up and talk to me whenever you feel like it, 'kay?" He smiled cheerfully.

_Riiiing._

"Riku!" Kairi began walking towards him, tired of being ignored.

'_His phone number? What?'_ "Okaaay…sure…" Riku put a hand in his pocket, looking for some sort of pen. His search was successful; a bright blue gel pen he had borrowed from Selphie a few days ago (that he forgot to return again). He scribbled the numbers on the part of his palm not covered by his glove as the younger teen dictated the numbers to him.

"415-3721." _'…Have I heard that number somewhere before? Man, I'm really out of it today.'_

"Thanks, Sora," he muttered as he hastily put the pen away. Would he even bother calling? This seemed kind of weird, but he said nothing. "I guess I'll see you –"

"Riku, –" a hand grabbed the boy by the shoulder and whirled him around, " – are you ignoring me?! What are you doing over there?

"The bell rang already, Riku! Come on!" Selphie and the other two were on the other side of the field, waiting by the school entrance as the last of the other students filed in through the double doors. Both she and Wakka were waving their arms, motioning for them to get over there.

"Hurry up or we're gonna be late!" exclaimed Tidus.

Riku arched a brow. _''We'?'_ Oh, so they were including him _now_, were they?

Kairi lead Riku back to the school by the arm, talking quickly as she went along. "I wanted to apologise again for our little trick in Language Arts, okay? We said sorry a million times, so you can forgive us now, you know…"

'_Oh, shoot. Sora.' _Halfway back, Riku had almost forgotten about him. He turned his head around to look back at Sora, but he wasn't by the same spot at the fence anymore. The brunette was walking down the sidewalk, along the school's chain-link fence, getting farther and farther away. His hands were in his pockets as he walked, staring up at the sky smiling contentedly. It looked like he didn't have a care in the world.

Riku wished he were like that.

_Posted on: January 2, 2005_


End file.
